CONNECTING PEOPLE

That's the company's slogan and that's what it does best - connect people. Nokia's brand name is the eleventh most valuable in the world, and it is ranked by Fortune as being one of the best companies in the USA to work for.

Today it is known as a dynamic telecommunications company but its roots are humble as it was started back in 1865 when a Finnish mining engineer named Fredrik Idestam established a wood-pulp mill in small village called Nokia, 200 km north-west of Helsinki, where he began manufacturing paper.

From a pulp & paper the company moved into the rubber business, then the cable industry and telecom cables before entering into research for radio transmission in the 60s. Then Nokia's mobile phones and telecommunications infrastructure products started to reach international markets, and by the late 90s, Nokia had established itself as a global leader in digital communication systems.

Nokia is indeed a master of innovation. Its ability to recognize and exploit the opportunities created by continuous technological and market change has helped it develop into the company it is today.

It is now paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. A pioneer in mobile telephony, Nokia is the world's leading mobile phone supplier as well as a top supplier of mobile and fixed telecom networks and services.

It also creates solutions and products for fixed and wireless datacommunications. Multimedia terminals and computer monitors round out its expertise in communications technology.

In 1999, its net sales totaled US$19.9 billion. Headquartered in Finland, its listed on the New York, Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges.

The company is made up of three business groups: Nokia Networks, Nokia Mobile Phones and Nokia Communication Products. It also has a separate Nokia Ventures Organization and its corporate research unit, the Nokia Research Center.

Pekka Uusimaa has been the Managing Director of Nokia's operations here in Thailand for seven months now. He was based in Malaysia for four years before coming here, and he has been in the telecom business for twenty-six years, fourteen with Nokia, and the rest with Telecom Finland (Sonera).

"Nokia established a local presence here slowly and then we built that up with the introduction of our 470 network for the TOT and our mobile phones. We have been progressing very well with systems and solutions for cellular operators and we now have a very good market position," he says.

Nokia has adapted to the cyclical nature of global economies, by optimizing its resources: if one part of the world is suffering through a downturn, its flexibility allows it to place its people where they are needed most. For example, it currently has over thirty Thai engineers working in China, Taiwan, Singapore, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Uusimaa notes that an additional reason that makes employment at Nokia very attractive for many Thais is the chance to work abroad: "When Thais come to work for us they know that they and their families have this opportunity to work and live abroad, where they can gain additional work-and-life experience. It also gives our engineers a wider understanding of the business and a truly global touch."

Nokia Thailand also has a Regional Technology Center on the seventh floor of the Bangkok-Thai Tower on Rangnam Road, as well as a Complete Test Environment for its systems and solutions on the third floor and Customer Training and Internal Training Centers as well.

Nokia wants to pave the way for the mobile information society so that the whole of society can obtain information and knowledge based services from wherever they are, free of wires.

Last year, Nokia sold 78.5 million mobile phones worldwide; Motorola 50 million; and Eriksson, 31 million. The company had a remarkable forty-eight percent growth in net sales, and a fifty-seven percent growth in operating profits.

Its mobile phones accounted for sixty-six percent of its total profits, while Nokia Networks combined for twenty-nine percent and other operations accounted for the remaining five percent.

Fifty-three percent of its net sales were in Europe, twenty-five percent in America and twenty-two percent in the Asia-Pacific region. Its largest markets were the USA and China followed by the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Brazil, the Netherlands, Finland and Australia.

It has twelve infrastructure-manufacturing facilities in five countries and ten mobile phone manufacturing facilities in eight countries. It also has fifty-two R & D centers operating in fourteen countries, which employ over 17,000 people, or thirty-one percent of its employees. Of its 55,260 strong workforce (12,367 of which were hired last year), 23,267 work in Finland.

Nokia believes that there will be one billion cellular subscribers by the year 2002, and that by 2003 there will be more handsets, or wireless devices, connected to the Internet than to pcs. It wants to help facilitate this transition.

There are now 2.5-2.6 million cellular customers in Thailand. What has made Nokia so popular here is that it has tapped into the stylish Thai way of life. Always an innovator, Nokia has made sure its mobile phones have the biggest variety of features and functions on the market today. It's phones are nalack or the ultimate turn-on for Thai females. They aren't just phones - they are fashion statements.

Nokia develops and manufactures a broad-range of advanced infrastructure solutions to meet the needs of a variety of customers, including fixed operators, mobile operators and Internet service providers. In addition, Nokia provides related service creation and network management solutions, customer services and system integration. It is a world-leading supplier in GSM infrastructure, including wireless data solutions. A key player in focused areas of fixed and datacom networks, Nokia Telecommunications is also a significant supplier of broadband and IP network solutions.

The world's largest mobile phone manufacturer with sales in over 130 countries worldwide. With a comprehensive product portfolio, covering all major standards and consumer segments, Nokia is in a strong position to lead the development toward the third generation of mobile communications. Building on its know-how in core infrastructure as well as the design of software and user interface, the company is leading the development of new wireless data applications.

Nokia Multimedia Terminals are a pioneer in digital terminals for interactive multimedia applications and digital broadcasting via satellite, cable and terrestrial networks. Product development focuses on terminals for the reception of broadband transmission of digital audio, video and data services. Nokia Industrial Electronics is one of Europe's leading manufacturers of advanced PC and workstation monitors, including applications for professional desktop communication and new technologies. It is also one of the leading suppliers of mobile phone battery chargers.

Explores new business areas facilitating future growth and boosting Nokia's product and long-term business development. To date, Nokia Ventures Organization includes two units: Wireless Business Communications focusing on the development of new wireless solutions for corporate customers, and Wireless Software Solutions focusing on the development of software products based on the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) standard. The Silicon Valley based Nokia Ventures Fund focuses on start-up businesses and technologies globally.

Interacts closely with all Nokia business units to enhance the company's technological competitiveness. The center covers the full-range of activities from exploration of new technologies and product/system concepts to their exploitation in actual product development undertaken in the business units.

Users linked to all forms of information, seamlessly and transparently, from any location. Access is enabled by the development of several networking technologies in response to the needs of today's users. This is the vision of a Mobile Information Society that is fast becoming a reality.

Using IP to access information on the move is not a new concept. Anyone who uses a PC to send and receive mail while they are out of the office is already exploiting it.

However, Nokia's vision of the Mobile Information Society is where the real excitement lies - how it is harnessing its expertise in handsets, terminals, user mobility, voice, fixed/wireless networking, Broadband Radio Networks (BRAN) and IP to deliver the Mobile Information Society. No other company has its unique mix of market, technology, IP networking and understanding of the user environment. No one else can combine these so that the user experiences a seamless, hassle-free environment. No stress, no problems, just access to information.

Global IP Mobility concerns the individual, rather than its supporting technologies, It's about the ability to work effectively from a remote office, a home office, an airport lounge, or a hotel - anywhere there is a fixed or mobile connection for voice and data.

IP plays a pivotal role in the Mobile Information Society. It is the glue between the access technologies, the terminal devices and the end-user applications. It is a mature technology providing user authentication, security, network management, data delivery, quality of service and billing mechanisms.

To the individual, IP mobility means the freedom to work, enjoy consistent access to information systems and be effective anywhere. Functionality and freedom are far more relevant than technology.

To deliver the Mobile Information Society, a number of important technologies must be combined in a package that is simple to use, easy to install and easy to administer. Nokia fixed access solutions can deliver Narrowband and Broadband data to homes and corporate locations. For the user without a fixed location or access to a high-speed fixed network, it can deliver high bandwidth wireless solutions - a field in which Nokia is the acknowledged market leader.

Nokia expertise includes GSM, GPRS, third generation mobile solutions, Wireless LAN and Broadband Radio Access Networks (BRAN), each of which provides increasing amounts of bandwidth.

To ensure that all communication is secure and that systems are safe from interference, Nokia has a full suite of security products with state-of-the-art tools to protect both systems and users.

Of course, no solution would be complete without voice communication, and in order to leverage true mobility and vioce/data integration, Nokia provides sophisticated IP telephony solutions. Finally, recognition of the individual rather that the specific devices he or she is using, along with specialized authentication, billing and management systems, are essential attributes.

Nokia combines all the elements of IP Mobility in a seamless fashion to provide users with a unique mobile experience.

Wireless LAN solutions are based on the 802.11 standards using radio frequencies that do not require a license. The 802.11 standards operate in the 2.4Ghz spectrum, provide up to 11Mbps of bandwidth and allow commercial organizations and Internet Service Providers to deploy Wireless Internet access from public places such as airport lounges and hotels. Users simply turn on their laptop or WLAN-equipped portable device and authenticate themselves with the network. They can then start to access corporate or more general information through secure Virtual Private Networks running over WLAN and the Internet.

Wireless LAN particularly in office locations, together with hotspots and home-based solutions such as WLAN-equipped Home Servers, will allow users to roam between the various locations and maintain high-bandwidth connections.

Broadband Radio Access Networks of BRANs is a wireless technology that uses multipoint-to-multipoint transmission. As individuals and communities deploy BRAN-based solutions, the individual devices recognize and communicate with each other to provide high-bandwidth connectivity. These devices working together extend the coverage of wireless communications to whole communities.

BRAN-based systems can provide an alternative to fixed broadband solutions where there is no access to DSL or cable solutions.

Nokia provides a complete range of fixed broadband solutions offering various Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technologies. It offers a highly scalable DSL Access Multiplexer (DSLAM) that allows network operators to offer flexible, economical broadband services over existing copper lines. When integrated with Nokia's complete broadband solutions, network operators can build a comprehensive broadband IP system.

Future network technologies will be based on networks with shared access - a very different concept from previous circuit-switched or dedicated solutions.

In shared networks it is vitally important to protect network resources and other network users from those who would seek to disrupt normal network operation. Nokia provides products that combine security mechanisms such as IPSEC, Virtual Private Networks and Firewall technology with another key networking element - routing.

The result of combining these two technologies is a strong product family that scales from very small sites to the largest corporate, e-commerce or operator networks and delivers many unique benefits including simple installation and maintenance.

Nokia is the market leader in cellular solutions and this leadership will extend into the delivery of the next generations of cellular technology such as GPRS and third generation.

Nokia's innovative solutions, which naturally utilize other parts of our IP product families, will put the Internet in your pocket. Handsets working with cellular networks and applications aim to deliver a rich user experience that can be extended into other areas of Nokia IP Mobility solutions, enabling seamless roaming between WLAN and cellular networks.

Nokia provides extensive support to developers, encouraging applications that fully exploit the capabilities of user devices. Nokia has also delivered the first commercial Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) servers and the first WAP-compliant phone. Nokia is a founder member of the Symbian group, which is developing a new high-performance 32-bit operating system for mobile devices. EPOC is fully WAP-compliant, providing a system with a small footprint and real-time operation.

Many handheld devices and portable devices will need to communicate with each other in order to provide a seamless user environment. Nokia was one of the founding members of the Bluetooth alliance, a wireless technology capable of linking multiple devices such as cameras, PCs, phones, communication devices and many other consumer products.